The dangers of online play

You may think that playing Grand Theft Auto 4 online is a good way of bonding with people; but think again, as this horrifying tale of humanity laid bare will change your outlook of online play forever.

After a hard day of fighting with your co-workers, there’s nothing better than a cup of tea, a fish-finger sandwich and a rage reducing blast of Grand Theft Auto 4. Not that I go on there to kill pedestrians aimlessly, well……not every night. No, after a day of feeling isolated and alone, working against a horde of backstabbing, two faced co-workers, I like to play one of the online co-op missions GTA4 has to offer. Nothing makes you feel more loved and appreciated than working towards a common goal (usually involving mass killing) with a group of like minded people. Sharing the load, watching each others backs, helping out in times of need; this is what a co-op mission is all about, and why it’s the perfect antidote to a bad day.

But sometimes, even in the computer-generated world where you’d imagine you’d be safe from harm, the real world can creep up from behind and bite your innocent bum, usually when you least expect it. Let me explain, with my emotionally charged tale of passion and woe.

To set the scene, I was playing GTA4 online, taking part in a cooperative mission called, Hangman’s Noose. In this particular mission, you and your team have to transport a Mafia boss safely from the Airport, to a safe house on the other side of Liberty City. All the while, you’ll be hunted down by the local police and S.W.A.T. teams, as they try and stop you and your precious cargo from evading their grasp.

The first stage of the mission takes place on the airport landing strip. Before the Mafia boss can safely leave his plane, you’ll need to secure the area and get hold of a vehicle to escort him off the premises. So, as a team, four of us stood guard around the plane while the fifth went to get a vehicle; a nearby helicopter. Now the fun starts, and the bonding between us online players begins.

From the distance, a never ending swarm of heavily armed S.W.A.T. teams approach, ready for a fight. On one’s own, this would be an almost inescapable foe, but as a team of brothers-in-arms, standing shoulder to shoulder and prepared to die in sake of each other, this puny army is no match. We fire as one, gunning down wave after wave of enemy, protecting each other as an unbreakable team. At one point, a member of our team was caught unawares from behind by an enemy S.W.A.T., and before he had time to turn and shoot, be was knocked to the floor and staring death in the face. But in our team, no man is left behind, and just before the S.W.A.T. pulled the trigger, condemning my brother to a hero’s death (until he could re-spawn anyway) I took aim, and with one shot, took my enemy down. As my team mate got up, he said to me over the radio two words I’ll never forget, ‘Thanks mate’. I single tear rolled down my cheek; I’d never felt so close to anyone in my life. But this was no time for tears, we still had a mission to accomplish, and by god we were going to complete it.

By now we were running low on ammo, and the almost unstoppable river of enemies just kept on ploughing towards us. But we did not back away, we stood our ground and kept firing; all for one and one for all. Just then our fifth team-mate came back from his mission, and flew into the heart of the battle with his helicopter, shouting ‘Get on, now!’ One by one we boarded the helicopter with our precious Mafia boss, as the rest of us continued to empty the last of our ammo, doing everything in our power to protect each other. I said I’d go last, and although my health was almost gone, I would rather die than allow my team mates to fall to a similar fate. As the last man climbed aboard our ride to freedom, I knew our mission would soon be at an end, and I’d be able to join my new found friends in warm celebration. But as I turned around to leap aboard the helicopter, it was gone.

I looked up; it had taken off without me. Maybe my team mates, in all the confusion and gunfire, had just forgotten me? So I shouted ‘Wait for me!’, but they continued to climb. I heard a team mate shout in desperation ‘There’s still a man down there!’, but yet they did not stop. Then I heard something that I will never forget. A voice so chilling and evil that I can’t help but shiver at even the slightest recollection of it. A girl, no older than eight, came on the radio and giggled, ‘Just leave it, forget about him’. My heart stopped. What had just happened? My friends, my brothers, had just abandoned me. I was alone.

I stood and watched as the men I had stood shoulder to shoulder with, who I had put my life on the line for, flew away and left me for dead. What made it doubly worse was that I could hear them laughing over the radio. As there cackles echoed though my bleeding soul, a bullet struck me, knocking me to the ground and ending my misery. With my last breath, I whispered ‘Whhhhyyyyyy?’ into the radio, but there was no response, only more laughter and teasing.

Till this day, I haven’t been able to even look at a copy of GTA4, and my trust in my fellow man has been shattered. Let this tragic tale be a lesson to you, that even in the world of online computer games, people are still bastards. I will have my revenge!